A Man’s Mental Attitude
by Napoleon Hill
A man’s mental attitude in respect to defeat is the factor of major importance in determining whether he rides with the tides of fortune on the success side of the River of Life or is swept to the failure side by circumstances of misfortune.
The circumstances which separate failure from success often are so slight that their real cause is overlooked. Often they exist entirely in the mental attitude with which one meets temporary defeat. The man with a positive mental attitude reacts to defeat in a spirit of determination not to accept it. The man with a negative mental attitude reacts to defeat in a spirit of hopeless acceptance.
The man who maintains a positive mental attitude may have anything in life upon which he may set his heart, so long as it does not conflict with the laws of God and the rights of his fellowmen. He probably will experience many defeats, but he will not surrender to defeat. He will convert it into a stepping stone from which he will rise to higher and higher areas of achievement.
The subject of a positive mental attitude is so important that it not only claimed first position in the list of the twelve riches of life, but it had to be included as an important part of the principle on pleasing personality, and has been mentioned in practically every principle of this course.
A positive mental attitude is an essential part of the key which unlocks the door to the solution of all personal problems. It is the magic quality of this key which enables it to attract success as surely as an electro-magnet attracts iron filings.
The whole secret of the formula by which you may turn defeat into as asset lives in your ability to maintain a positive mental attitude despite your defeat.
This is no man-made rule. It is a part of the imponderable phenomena of nature through which man has been provided with the privilege of drawing upon that power known as faith. Faith and a positive mental attitude are twin brothers! Where one is found, there also will be the other. The two are inseparable. Faith is a power which cannot be analyzed by science, yet it is the greatest power available to mankind.
And the strangest of its qualities exists in the fact that it is free, equally available to the humblest person or the greatest. Recognize this truth and you will be well on your way toward the great estate of Happy Valley.
Source: PMA Science of Success. Pgs. 396 & 397.
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